Retiring hero – Ricky Ponting is carried from the field by David Warner, left, and Michael Clarke, his successor as Australia captain, after his 168th and final Test match.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

Family man – Ponting holds daughter Matisse (R), as his wife Riannna carries daughter Emmy (L), following Australia's defeat in the third and final Test of the series against South Africa at the WACA ground in Perth.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

Sign of respect – The 37-year-old was given a guard of honor by his opponents when he went out to bat on day four. South Africa captain Graeme Smith later described Ponting as "the player I respect the most" following a record-breaking career.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

One for the road – Ponting, one of only three players to have scored more than 13,000 Test runs, managed a trademark early boundary as Australia chased a huge target of 623 to win.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

Disappointing end – However, he fell for just eight runs and the home side went on to lose by 309 for a 1-0 series defeat as South Africa retained the top Test ranking.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

End of an era – He was given a standing ovation by the 7,000-strong crowd, having matched Steve Waugh's record of Test appearances for Australia.

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Ricky Ponting ends cricket career7 photos

Home support – A fan shows his appreciation for Ponting, who won a record 48 Tests as captain and was involved in 108 victories overall.

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Tendulkar: From cricket to politics 4 photos

Tendulkar: From cricket to politics4 photos

Cricket hero turned politician – Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar's nomination to the Indian parliament has drawn mixed reactions across the country. The Times of India said it makes "little sense," while many lawmakers welcomed the celebrated batsman to their ranks.

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Tendulkar: From cricket to politics4 photos

New test for Tendulkar – Tendulkar cemented his place in history when in March he became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries. The 39-year-old insists cricket will remain his priority, adding: "I have been nominated because I am a sportsman and not a politician."

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Tendulkar: From cricket to politics4 photos

Fans back nomination – Tendulkar's supporters held a hunger strike on April 24, demanding the government award him India's highest civilian award. Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju hit back, arguing that giving the Bharat Ratna to cricketers and film stars who have "no social relevance" makes a mockery of the prize.

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Tendulkar: From cricket to politics4 photos

A real hero – Tendulkar, pictured with his wife Anjali, was honored at the "Real Heroes Awards" ceremony in Mumbai in March, run by the Reliance Foundation and CNN affiliate broadcaster CNN-IBN.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket 17 photos

Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

The end of an era – Sachin Tendulkar will end his record-breaking cricket career following his 200th Test match, against the West Indies in his home city of Mumbai.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Waving goodbye – A face-painter with a queue of spectators outside Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. The match is not being covered by the world's leading photo agencies due to a dispute with Indian cricket's ruling body, which dates back to 2012.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Big attraction – Security was tight around the ground, which could have been sold out 10 times according to local reports.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Master batsman – Tendulkar helped his Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians to win the Twenty20 limited-overs tournament earlier this year.

India's first World Cup title – He had been stuck on 99 since the 2011 World Cup, when he closed to within one of the milestone with a ton against South Africa. Tendulkar helped India win the final against co-hosts Sri Lanka in his home city of Mumbai on April 2. He scored only 18 in that match, but was India's top runscorer as his country won the 50-over tournament for the first time.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

An agonizing wait – Cricket fans had been waiting for the milestone, which came 33 innings after the South Africa game. Tendulkar went close during India's disappointing tour of Australia -- against whom he has scored 20 tons, more than any other nation.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Test best – Tendulkar is the first and only player in cricket history to score 15,000 Test match runs, achieving the feat in November 2011.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Teen prodigy – Having scored a triple century as a schoolboy, and then passing 100 on his first-class debut in 1988, Tendulkar made his international debut the following year at the age of 16 against Pakistan.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

First of many to come – Tendulkar scored his first international century in the five-day format the following year on India's tour of England, hitting 119 not out in the second Test at Old Trafford.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

The greatest? – Debate still rages as to whether Tendulkar can be considered greater than Australian legend Donald Bradman, whose Test career ended in 1948 with an incredible average of 99.94, scoring 6,996 runs in 52 matches.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Passing a legend – England's players applaud after Tendulkar scores 193 in Leeds in 2002, passing Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries. He has now played 188 Tests, notching 51 hundreds.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Lara's landmark falls – Tendulkar, left, became Test cricket's highst runscorer in October 2008 when he passed Brian Lara's previous record of 11,953 during a home series against Australia.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Run machine – Tendulkar became the first batsman to score 17,000 runs in one-day internationals with a knock of 175 against Australia in Hyderabad on November 5, 2009.

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Sachin Tendulkar retires from cricket17 photos

Tendulkar's 200 – Tendulkar's next foray into three figures saw him become the first batsman to score 200 in a 50-over international -- against South Africa on February 25, 2010. Indian schoolchildren in Amritsar celebrated their national hero's landmark feat.

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In a calendar year, only Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf (1,788), West Indian Viv Richards (1,710) and South Africa's Graeme Smith (1,656) have scored more Test runs than Clarke.

He might not get a second chance to bat in this match, with Australia in control.

All-rounder Mitchell Johnson will seek to get the 27 runs he needs for his second Test century when he resumes his innings on day three.

Clarke and Shane Watson had put on 194 for the fourth wicket as Sri Lanka lost pace bowler Chanaka Welegedara to a hamstring injury early in the day, before a mini-collapse saw the Australians slump to 315-6.

Watson was among those to fall, being caught in the deep for 83 -- meaning he has not passed three figures in the five-day game since October 2010, despite registering 19 fifties in his 38 Test appearances.

"If he continues to play the way he played today and shows that patience and that discipline I have no doubt at all that he will score plenty of hundreds for Australia," Clarke said.

"He showed a lot of discipline in his shot selection and even the ball he got out on, as his captain, I am not disappointed with. Nine times out of 10 that will go for four or six."

Johnson steadied the innings as he added 61 for the seventh wicket with Mike Hussey (34) and 58 for the eighth with Peter Siddle (13) before seeing out the day with Nathan Lyon (0).

Sri Lanka need to win the match to have any chance of winning the three-match series, having lost the opener by 137 runs.

The tourists, who made just 156 in Wednesday's first innings after winning the toss and deciding to bat, were left to rue dropping Clarke on the opening day and then giving Watson two lives on Thursday.

"We let them off the hook yesterday in the evening when we had them three wickets down and today before Clarke got into his stride and then Watson after that," said batting coach Marvin Atapattu, a former skipper of the national side.

"If we had held on to those two it would have been different, but that is the way it goes and we have got ourselves to blame."

Meanwhile, Ponting has defended Australia's rotation policy after first Test hero Mitchell Starc was rested for the Melbourne match, allowing Jackson Bird to make his debut.

Starc took six wickets in Hobart, five of them coming in Sri Lanka's second innings.

"A lot of the people that are talking about it, past bowlers in particular, have got no idea of the workload of some of the guys that are playing now," Ponting said.

"Everyone in and around the Australian team is trying to do the best thing for Australian cricket. It's all about trying to put the best and fittest bowlers on the park every time we can."